


careful, careful

by serj



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Character Study, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 05:43:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10960896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serj/pseuds/serj
Summary: Yachi has a knack for solving things. Kiyoko has a knack for being unsolvable.





	careful, careful

Kiyoko always walked with her weight balanced perfectly on one foot, like she was in a runway show. 

Back before Yachi knew her, she had seen her strutting down the halls and assumed it was to show off. But it had been months since she had joined Karasuno’s boys volleyball club as the second team manager, and she had learned in that time that Kiyoko was the last person to want to draw attention to herself. Terushima wasn’t the first boy to corner her, and as hard as Yachi tried to watch out for her senpai, he probably wouldn’t be the last. 

On a muffled day in September, clouds crawled across the skyline. When fat drops began to dot the pavement on their ascent down the slope from school, Kiyoko paused to retrieve an umbrella from her bag. Yachi noted how she pressed the toes of her right foot against the road like she was afraid of being blown over. 

“Kiyoko-san,” she asked, in a quiet voice, “Is there something the matter with your ankle?” 

Kiyoko unfurled her umbrella. “Why do you ask?” She was standing proper now, holding the umbrella out in a way that told Yachi she was supposed to stand beneath it. She did, and they continued on.

“You always walk funny. Like you’re favoring it.”

“I am.” Picking at the fray of her sweater, she added, “I don’t think any of the boys know this, but before I was the team manager, I used to run track.”

“Track! Why did you quit?” Yachi wanted to hit herself after asking that. _Her ankle, you dummy._

“My coach told me if I kept injuring myself I could run into some serious problems. I didn’t listen to him. I ended up getting Achilles tendinitis. It's supposed to resolve itself pretty quickly, but I waited until I'd had it a few times to do anything about it, so it was pretty bad.” To Yachi’s surprise, she laughed. “I guess I learned my lesson.”

The rain was heavier now, and Kiyoko pressed herself closer to avoid getting dripped on. Yachi gulped as she did so. “What’s that?”

“Tendinitis? It just means my heel got all red and swollen. It’s pretty common for runners to get. I went to a physical therapist for a while. After I was cleared, I thought to myself, ‘ _What am I doing? I’m going to be in a wheelchair by the time I’m 30 if I keep this up_.’ I don’t know. I’ve always wanted to be useful, but I could never figure out how to be. I decided I wasn’t being useful in track anymore. So I quit, and moved onto the next thing.” Glancing down at Yachi, she said, “Sorry, I’m probably boring you with all this oversharing.”

“No, I like it!” Yachi fumbled. “I mean, I like hearing about- I like hearing you talk.”

Kiyoko’s face was caught somewhere between a smile and a shake of the head. “Thank you. Really. I like talking to you, too.”

Yachi thought maybe a gust would come and blow her heart into the hissing rain.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure where this is going, but I hope to continue it.  
> I actually started writing this before it was revealed that Kiyoko formerly ran track and field. It was originally going to be about her quitting girls volleyball after getting an injury, but it's even better now that it's somewhat derived from canon.  
> Please tell me if there's anything you'd like me to delve into in this fic. I don't have a solid plan for it, so I'm open to any suggestions.


End file.
